An Interlude
by Ayla Pascal
Summary: Harry tucks his daughter into bed and thinks about his life.


**Author Notes**: Thank you to aigooism for the beta!

"... and they lived happily ever after." Harry closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf. "The end."

"I love that story," Lily declared.

Harry laughed. "I know, sweetheart. It's the third time I've read it tonight." When Lily liked something, she really _liked_it. He was beginning to regret ever having bought her a book of Muggle fairy tales. There were just so many of them.

"Are we famous?" Lily asked suddenly.

Harry blinked. "Why do you ask?"

Lily shrugged. "People always seem to know us, even though we don't know them."

Harry could feel his heart twist at the bright, innocent look in her eyes. She'd know the truth soon enough. His life had never been his own to live; he always hoped that his children could have a different sort of life, but so far, it didn't look like his hopes would ever eventuate. Their trip into Diagon Alley today had been exceedingly uncomfortable. People – who obviously thought they were being subtle – kept on whispering and pointing. "Of course, we are," he said as he leaned over to tweak her nose. "You're a famous princess."

Lily giggled. "Don't be silly, Daddy," she scolded. "If I'm a princess, then where's my castle?"

Harry tickled her ribs and watched as Lily squirmed. "I'll tell you a secret." He leaned in. "But only if you don't tell anybody else for as long as you live. It's a very big secret that nobody else knows about."

"Does Mummy know?" Lily asked.

"Nobody else except your mum and I," Harry amended. Lily was going to be a handful one day, he knew it. She always asked more questions than either James or Albus did at her age.

"That's good," Lily said seriously and then she grinned. "So Al and James don't know?"

"No, they don't," Harry said in a mock-serious tone. "So you can't tell them."

"Cross my heart." Lily crossed her legs and pulled the covers up around her. "So, what's the secret?"

Harry took his wand out of his pocket and waved it. A castle began to materialise in the middle of Lily's bedroom. Another flick of his wand made the flags wave as though there was a hidden breeze. The castle looked remarkably like Hogwarts, but she didn't need to know that. He hid a grin as he saw Lily's eyes widen.

She pushed herself up. "Is it real?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but it'll always be there for you, even if you can't see it. It's your constant, secret reminder that you're special. That you're a princess."

Lily's eyes gleamed. She opened her mouth, but then shut it again. "If I'm a princess, then are Al and James princes?"

Harry bit back a laugh as he let the castle disappear. "Only if you want them to be." He put his wand back into his pocket.

Lily scowled. "They're not princes. They wouldn't let me play Quidditch with them yesterday. They said I wasn't good enough."

Harry leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Your mother's a wonderful Quidditch player and I suspect you're going to grow up to be one too. Now it's late. Your mum would have a fit if she knew that I'd let you stay up so late. You should be asleep."

With a pout, Lily lay down. "But I'm not sleepy," she said, stifling a yawn. Her eyes seemed to be drifting closed as she pillowed her cheek in her hand. "Not sleepy at aaaaaaaalllll." Her eyes fluttered shut.

Harry pulled the covers up to her chin. "Sweet dreams," he said and then stood up and walked towards the door. With a fond look at Lily, Harry closed the door softly behind him.

* * *

><p>As Harry walked back to the living room, he couldn't help but miss Ginny. The house seemed very empty when she was gone, especially when all the children were asleep. She had only been away for a few days, but it seemed that the team tours were happening more and more often lately. He had tried to broach the topic with her, but she had just laughed and said that she had toured more often when they were newlyweds. It was probably true, Harry realised. But they were younger back then and they didn't have children.<p>

"Children don't have to change everything," Ginny had always insisted. It was true. She was still the best Seeker the Harpies had ever had.

"It's hard on the children sometimes," Harry had contented himself with saying. What was left unsaid was that it was hard on him too. Sometimes, he wondered if he missed her more than the children did. They didn't have much time to be alone nowadays. If it wasn't one thing or another with the children, it was their jobs taking them out of the house.

"I don't want to be away all the time, but it'll only be for a few more years." Ginny had given him a rueful smile as she stretched. "I can't keep on doing this forever. I don't feel as young as I used to be."

With a sigh, Harry opened up a kitchen cupboard and began making himself a cup of tea. He wondered if other couples faced similar problems.

Probably, he thought wryly.

Both he and Ginny wanted to spend more time at home, but neither of them wanted to give up the jobs they loved. To top that off, the fame made it difficult. A simple private family stroll into Hogsmeade always turned into something more. Some of the people wanted to talk to him – sometimes about things he had done over fifteen years ago, sometimes about things he had done recently. Others wanted to come over to get Ginny's autograph. And still others seemed to treat his family as their own private property. More than once, Harry had to tell strangers firmly that they weren't to buy sweets for his children.

Because of the unwanted attention, they went to the Muggle world more and more nowadays, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't same world he remembered from his childhood. Things had changed so much and whenever Harry looked around, he was reminded of the first time he visited Diagon Alley. Everything was coated with a strangeness, not unpleasant, but not normal either. Strangeness wrapped in an odd familiarity. He didn't belong in that world any more.

Harry curled his fingers around the mug and brought it to his lips. The tea was hot and sweet, just the way he liked it.

Of course, things weren't all bad.

Ginny would be back soon. They would have almost a month together before his next Auror assignment. Perhaps they could take the children on a holiday somewhere far away. Far, far away. Definitely out of England.

In one gulp, Harry drained his tea. That was it. He was positive Ginny would agree. A holiday would be the perfect thing for them right now. Perhaps they could go to a castle in Muggle Europe; he'd never been to Europe so there wouldn't be any of that lingering familiarity. Away from anybody who knew them.

Harry hid a smile. That would be nice for Lily. He could imagine her running all around the castle pretending to be a princess. Harry thought he'd enjoy seeing that.

-fin


End file.
